The European Union may adopt the 21st anti-Russian sanctions package by the end of the term of the current EU Council presidency.
However, this scenario is not guaranteed due to the need to coordinate the package and the complexity of the negotiations, MEP Tomasz Zdechowski told “Izvestia“.
“Adoption by the end of the term of the current Council presidency is possible, but not guaranteed“, Zdechowski told “Izvestia“.
He informed the newspaper that the timing of the adoption of the new sanctions package will depend on the approval of EU member states, which requires unanimity. Negotiations on this issue could be complicated, the MEP added.
“Despite the political will to continue the pressure on Russia, I would be cautious about setting strict deadlines“, Zdechovsky noted.
On April 22, EU ambassadors approved €90 billion in financing for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia after Hungary and Slovakia overrode the veto.
On April 24, EU Foreign Affairs Minister Kaia Kallas announced that EU leaders had started preparing the 21st package of restrictions.
Mexico and the European Union will sign a strategic partnership agreement and an interim trade agreement at the 8th bilateral summit, to be held on May 22 in the Mexican capital.
This was stated in a communiqué published by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs following a telephone conversation between Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum and European Council President Antonio Costa.
“One of the main outcomes of the summit is expected to be the signing of the “Strategic Partnership Agreement in the Political, Economic and Cooperative Sphere between Mexico and the European Union“, as well as an interim trade agreement“, the document said.
The statement stressed that the new agreement “will update and deepen the existing framework of political, cooperative and economic relations“, established 25 years ago. “This comprehensive agreement will strengthen relations in all areas and lay the foundations for deeper cooperation in strategic sectors for the sustainable development of both countries“, the text notes.
The European Union will be represented at the meeting by European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whose work programme in Mexico begins on 21 May. Sheinbaum and Costa agreed that the upcoming summit “will be a defining moment in bilateral relations and will allow us to consolidate a new phase of the strategic partnership“ between Mexico City and Brussels.